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Quick story: My husband and I recently began rewatching LOST. It’s the first time for him, and I’m having a blast watching him “OOH” and “AHH” with every twist and turn. Since I had been watching from day one, I didn’t think I’d get much out of the rewatch — wrong! I’m discovering all kinds of little juicy tidbits I forgot and am enjoying the ride right along with him.

Bottom line: no matter your level of knowledge or familiarity with a topic, we can all use a refresher. That’s what we’re going to offer this week in our series on Self-Publishing Basics.

Who Will Gain from Self-Publishing Basics?

Although geared mainly toward authors completely new to the process (HI! If you’re one of them), this step-by-step walkthrough will allow all of us to learn from each other’s experiences (good and bad). Because, the truth is, Shannon and I don’t know everything. We’re drawing from our personal experiences, and would love for you to jump in with yours!

The goal: to make the self-publishing experience as stress-free and enjoyable as possible. Tall order, right?

Overview of the Self-Publishing Basics Series

We mentioned in last week’s podcast that this was going to be a week-long series. When discussing it in detail, however, Shannon and I realized that it was simply WAY too much information to cover in a week (without 1500-word posts, and we know you don’t have time for that).

Each day’s post will be devoted to one portion of the self-publishing process — here’s how we see it shaping up:

• Tuesday (6/16): Decisions, Part I : Pre-planning
  • Covering the inital concept, target market research and planning/outlining of your book. We’ll give you questions to ask yourself before you even put fingers to keys — while taking note of the fact that many authors will likely, at this point, still be eying traditional publication.
• Wednesday (6/17): Writing
  • How can you make the writing process go more smoothly? Shannon shares her insight, tips and tricks.
• Thursday (6/18): Proofreading & Editing
  • Good editing sets many traditionally-published books apart from their self-published counterparts. Don’t skimp in this area!
• Monday (6/21): Decisions, Part II : Big Decisions
  • Your book is complete and you’ve decided to self-publish — now what? We’ll discuss a bit about self-publishing vs. traditional publishing and how to choose the printing path that’s right for you.
• Tuesday (6/22): Decisions, Part III : Little Details
  • From return options to ISBNs, we’ll go over the little details that can cause you big headaches!
• Wednesday (6/23): Design
  • Effective design is a big factor that goes a long way toward putting you in the leagues of traditionally-published books. We’ll discuss the process of choosing a designer or design service that fits your needs (and budget) and how to get the most bang for your buck.
• Thursday (6/24): Publication & Marketing
  • Your book is ready to be published, but the hard work is just beginning! After it’s available for purchase, check out our marketing tips that will get those presses turning.

Phew! As you can see, self-publishing is quite an involved process — and we’re sure to leave some things out. If you’ve been through the ringer before and have insight to offer, please leave a comment on any one of the upcoming posts.

It’s sure to be an exciting, educational and fun couple of weeks. Be sure not to miss a post in the series by subscribing to our RSS feed or following us @duolit.

Time for Self-Publishing Basic Training. Let’s get started!